CHERNOBYL FACTS

7/29/2019 CHERNOBYL FACTS

1/201

CHERNOBYL: CHRONOLOGY

OF ADISASTER

MARCH 11, 201 1 |No. 724

CHERNOBYL; CHRONOLOGY

OF A DISASTER 1

INHOUD:

1- An accident waiting to

happen 2

2- The accident and

immediate consequences

( 1986 1989) 4

3- Trying to minimize the

consequences (1990 2000) 8

4- Aftermath: no lessons

learned (2001 - 2011)

5- Postscript 18

Chernobyl - 200,000 sq km contaminated; 600,000 liquidators; $200 billion in damage;350,000 people evacuated; 50 mln Ci of radiation. Are you ready to pay this price forthe development of nuclear power? (Poster by Ecodefence, 2011)


2/20

NUCLEAR MONITOR 7242

At 1.23 hr on April 26, 1986, the fourth reactor of the Cherno-byl nuclear power plant exploded.

The disaster was a unique industrial accident due to thescale of its social, economic and environmental impacts andlongevity. It is estimated that, in Ukraine, Belarus and Russiaalone, around 9 million people were directly affected resultingfrom the fact that the long lived radioactivity released wasmore than 200 times that of the atomic bombs dropped on

Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Across the former Soviet Union the contamination resulted inevacuation of some 400,000 people. About 200,000 km2 ofland was, and is, contaminated by radioactive Caesium-137above 37,000 Bq/m2 (intervention level). In area terms, about3,900,000 km2 of Europe was contaminated by caesium-137(above 4,000 Bq/m2) which is 40% of the surface area ofEurope. Curiously, this latter figure does not appear to havebeen published and, certainly has never reached the public'sconsciousness in Europe.

This contamination will persist for centuries, and many coun-tries as well as Belarus, Ukraine and Russia will need to conti-nue with food restriction orders for decades to come. The eco-

nomic consequences of the accident remain a massive burdenon the countries most affected; Ukraine and Belarus continueto spend a large percentage of their Gross National Producton trying to deal with the consequences of the accident.

About the health consequences of the Chernobyl accident,much research has been conducted, many reports havebeen written and still many uncertainties exist. Although of-ficial accounts points to 4,000 expected cancer deaths fromChernobyl in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia, the real predictionin IAEA/WHO reports is more than 9,000. Many other studiesare expecting a multiple of that number. A 2009 publicationthat looked to Russian and Ukraine language reports, left outof the official studies, calculate a number of casualties of up to

900,000. The full impact of the Chernobyl disaster may neverbe known.

1- PRELUDEChernobyl is safe. Well, until April 26, 1986, that is

Before the Chernobyl accident very little was known about theChernobyl type reactor, the RBMK. One of the few publicati-ons before 1986, in the December 1983 issue of the German

nuclear industry monthly atomwirtschaft was written by H.Born from one of the main German utilities VEW. He writes:"For operational safety, the nuclear power plants (VVER andRBMK) are equipped with three parallel safety systems. The

power plants are designed to withstand natural disasters (hur-ricanes, floods, earthquakes, etc.) and to withstand aircraftcrash and blasts from outside. The safety is increased bythe possibility in Russia to select a site far away from biggertowns." (page 647: "Zur Betriebssicherheit sind die Kraftwerke(VVER and RBMK) mit drei parallel arbeitenden Sicherheit-systeme ausgeruested. Die Kraftwerke sing gegen Naturka-tastrophen (Orkane, Ueberschwemmungen, Erdbeben, etc)

und gegen Flugzeugabsturz und Druckwellen von aussenausgelegt. Die Sicherheit wird noch durch die in Russlandmoegliche Standortauswahl, KKW in gewisser Entfernung vangroesseren Ortschaften zu erstellen, erhoeht."

In the J une 1983 issue of the IAEA-bulletin, Mr. B. Semenov,Deputy Director General, Head of IAEA Department of Nu-clear Energy and Safety, sums up "many factors favoring thechannel-type graphite-uranium boiling-water reactors" andconcludes: "The design feature of having more than 1000individual primary circuits increasing the safety of the reac-tor system a serious loss-of-coolant accident is practicallyimpossible." (page 51)

1972In 1972 a discussion took place in Kiev about the type ofnuclear plant to be built at Chernobyl. Chernobyl's director,Bryukhanov, supported construction of Pressurized Water Re-actors (PWRs). He informed the Ukraine Minister of Energy,Aleksei Makukhin, that an RBMK (a boiling water reactor)releases forty times more radiation than a PWR. However, thescientist Alekzandrov opposed this, saying that the RBMK-1000 was not only the safest reactor, it produced the cheapestelectricity as well. For this reason it was decided to build theRBMK pressure tube reactors.

1979

February-March: according to data in the possession of the

KGB, design deviations and violations of construction andassembly technology are occurring at various places in theconstruction of the 2nd generating unit, and these could lead

to mishaps and accidents. Similar report on Unit 1 (both unitsare in operation, at the time).

1983

December: The construction of Unit 4 at Chernobyl was com-pleted by December 1983. On 21 December a press report

was released which stated that the previous day the nuclearpower plant had become operational. This news was reportedby the media on 22 December, a festive day for workers in theenergy industry. In the Soviet Union it was customary for all

The Chernobyl nuclear power plant:

Type & Capacity Start Construction Criticality Shut downBlock 1 RBMK-800 March 1970 September 1979 November 1996Block 2 RBMK-1000 February 1973 December 1978 October 1991Block 3 RBMK-1000 March 1976 December 1981 December 2000Block 4 RBMK-1000 April 1979 December 1983 April 1986Block 5 RBMK-1000 December 1981 - -

Block 6 RBMK-1000 December 1983 - -

RBMK's (also called Light-Water-Cooled, Graphite-Moderated Reactors, or LWGRs), use light water as a coolant and grap-hite as a moderator


3/20

NUCLEAR MONITOR 724 3

sections of public employment to have their own special day,when they receive public acclaim for their work and are givenextra bonuses.

That the production of electricity started on 20 December isquite remarkable, because usually there is a time lapse ofabout six months between the completion of the constructionand the plant becoming operational. On this subject ZhoresMedvedev noted that it was common practice in the Soviet

Union for people to declare an industrial project to be readyfor operation on the understanding that any problems willbe solved as quickly as possible. In this way, the productionplan already set can still be met. Besides which, not signingthe declaration on 31 December 1983 would have resultedin thousands of employees missing their chances of bonu-ses and other extras. This concerns bonuses of up to threemonths salary extra. Later it became apparent that in theperiod up to 1985 the turbine had been tested, but without re-sults. The question is still why the test was not repeated againimmediately, but had to be left until April 1986.

Nuclear Europe, J anuary 1984

1984

In April 2003, secret KGB documents released in Ukraineshow that there were problems with the Chernobyl nuclearplant. One 1984 document notes deficiencies in the third andfourth block, and also of poor quality of some equipment sentfrom Yugoslav companies.

1985April: The Minister of Energy, Anatoly Mayorets, decreed thatinformation on any adverse effects caused by the functioningof the energy industry on employees, inhabitants and environ-

ment, were not suitable for publication by newspapers, radioor television. On 18 J uly 1986, shortly after the Chernobyl ac-cident, this same minister forbade his civil servants from tellingthe truth about Chernobyl to the media.

1986

February: Vitali Sklyarov, Minister of Power and Electrificationof Ukraine, in reference to the nuclear reactors in Ukraine, is

quoted in Soviet Life magazine (page 8) as saying: The oddsof a meltdown are one in 10,000 years.27 March: Literaturna Ukraina (Ukrainian Literature) publis-hes an article written by Ms Lyubov Kovalevska (believed tobe a senior manager at Chernobyl NPP) in which she writesthat substandard construction, workmanship and concrete,along with thefts and bureaucratic incompetence are creatinga time bomb The failures here will be repaid, repaid over thedecades to come.It remains uncertain whether the information on the course

of the accident is completely reliable. In 1987, five possible

courses of events leading up to the accident were put forward.

However, the following account is the one generally accepted.

25 April (Friday)

13.05 hours (local time): Preparations for the turbine test

The turbine testOne of the tests incompletely carried out before the reactorbecoming operational was on the functioning of the turbinein the case of a defect.

That the production of electricity of the fourth Chernobylreactor started on 20 December 1983 was, as said, quiteremarkable, because usually there is a time lapse of aboutsix months between the completion of the construction andthe plant becoming operational.All the components have to be tested before the actual pro-duction process is started. But, in Unit 4 at Chernobyl therewas a celebration in March 1984 (only three months after

the reactor was operational) to mark the fact that alreadyone million kilowatt hours had been produced, even thoughat that time not all the components had been thoroughlytested.One of the tests incompletely carried out before the reactorbecoming operational was on the functioning of the turbinein the case of a defect.If a defect is present, the turbine should then slow down,but continue to produce electricity. This electricity is neces-sary to work the circulation pump and control rods, and toprovide lighting for the control room and control panel. Thissupply of electricity is essential for the safety of the reactor,and on no account should it fail.Because it takes twenty seconds for the control rods to re-ach their most extreme position in the case of a defect, it isof vital importance to know whether the turbine can producethe necessary electricity for those twenty seconds, untilthe emergency generator is able to take over the supply ofelectricity. This test was carried out on the night of 25 - 26April 1986, and was the cause of the disaster.

This test should have been carried out before the powerplant was put into operation. In actual fact, such a test wascarried out earlier - but failed. This became apparent in

J uly and August 1987 during the trial of six people held tobe responsible for Chernobyl. The judges' verdict statesthat on 31 December 1983, director Bryukhanov signed adocument declaring that all the tests had been carried out

successfully.


4/20


begin. For this test, the plant's capacity must be reduced andfor this reason one turbine is turned off.14.00 hours: The controller of the Ukraine electricity networkrequests that the test be delayed. All electricity from Unit 4 isnecessary. It is not clear why it was not predictable before-

hand that work would have to continue all through Friday after-noon in order to achieve the production planned for April.16.00 hours: The day shift leaves. The members of this shift

have been given information about the test during the previousdays, and know about the entire procedure. A special team ofelectronic engineers is present.23.10 hours: Preparations for the test start again. The tenhour delay has a large number of consequences. Firstly,the team of engineers is tired. Secondly, during the test, theevening shift is replaced by the night shift. This shift has fewerexperienced operators, besides which they were not preparedfor the test. Achier Razachkov, - Yuri Tregub and A. Uskov arethe operators who were responsible for carrying out the testearlier in the day: later in interviews they declared that testprocedures were only explained to the day and evening shifts.

Yuri Tregub decides to stay and help the night shift.26 April (Saturday)

01.00 hours: During preparations for the test, the operatorshave difficulty keeping the capacity of the nuclear plant stable.While doing this they make six important mistakes.1. The control rods which can stop the reactor are raisedhigher than regulations permit. Operator Uskov of the day shiftsaid later that he would have done the same. He said: "Weoften don't see the need to follow the instructions to the letter,because rules are often infringed all around us." As well asthis, he pointed to the fact that during training it was repea-ted over and over again that "a nuclear power plant cannotexplode". Operator Kazachkov said: "We have often had fewercontrol rods than were required, and nothing ever happened.

No explosion, everything just went on as normal."2. The plant's capacity decreases to below the safe level.Because of this the core becomes unstable. Preparations forthe test should have been stopped by now. It should havebeen obvious that all attention should be given to measuresfor regaining the plant's stability.3. In order to raise the capacity, an extra circulation pump isturned on. Because of the strong cooling down, the pressurefalls, thus reducing the reactor's capacity rather than increa-sing it. Normally at this stage the scram system should startworking, but in order to still be able to carry out the test, thissystem is turned off.4. The automatic emergency shut-down system is turned off inorder to prevent the reactor stopping itself.

5. The systems to prevent the' water level decreasing toomuch and the temperature of the fuel elements becoming toohigh are also turned off.6. Finally, the emergency cooling system is turned off to pre-

vent it working during the test.1.23.04 hours: The real test now begins. The power plant'scapacity suddenly increases unexpectedly.1.23.40 hours: Leonid Toptunov, responsible for the controlrods, presses a special button for an emergency shutdown.

The test has been going on for 36 seconds.1.23.44 hours: The control rods start to descend, but shockscan be felt. The operators see that the control rods have be-

come stuck. The fuel tubes have become deformed becauseof the large increase in the steam pressure.1.24.00 hours: The test has now been going on for 56seconds. Pressure in the reactor is now so high that the fuelelements burst and small particles land in the cooling water.

The cooling water turns into steam and pressure in the tubesincreases: they burst.

The 1000 ton lid above the fuel elements is lifted: the firstexplosion. The release of radiation starts. Air gets into thereactor. There is enough oxygen to start a graphite fire. Themetal of the fuel tubes reacts to the water. This is a chemicalreaction which produces hydrogen, and this hydrogen explo-des: the second explosion. Burning debris flies into the air andlands on the roof of Chernobyl Unit 3. (There was barely any

attention paid to this hydrogen explosion in the Soviet reportabout the accident. In studies commissioned by the US gover-nment, however, it was concluded that the second explosionwas of great significance, and that the original explanationof the accident was incorrect. Richard Wilson of the HarvardUniversity in the US said this second explosion was a smallnuclear explosion.)

The head of the night shift, Alexander Akinhov, and the engi-neer responsible for industrial management, Anatoly Diatlov,do not believe that an accident has taken place. When some-body claims the core has exploded, they send out operatorsto examine the core. These people are killed by radiation. Onhearing the report that the reactor has been destroyed Akimovcries out, "The reactor is OK, we have no problems."Akimov and Diatlov, assisted by manager Bryukhanov andengineer N.Fomin, keep ordering the operators to add morecooling water. They remain convinced that there is nothingwrong. Akimov and Toptunov, who was responsible for thecontrol rods, both died of radiation illness. Diatlov and Fominwere both sentenced to ten years imprisonment for infringe-ment of the safety regulations. However, at the end of 1990they were both released.

2- THE ACCIDENT AND IMMEDIATE CON-

SEQUENCES

Unit 4 of the Nuclear power plant at Chernobyl explodes.Debris flies into the air and lands on the roof of Unit 3 which is

right next to the exploded Unit 4. The units share a communal

machine turbine hall with a roof of bitumen, a flammable ma-

terial. Thirty fires develop. The fact that the accident happens

at night has one great advantage: in the daytime, 2000 people

are working on the construction of Chernobyl Units 5 and 6.

These people are now at home.

01.25 hours: The fire alarm rings at the local fire station. Me-anwhile more people are killed: The nuclear plant's fire fightersarrive with three fire engines. The leader, Lieutenant Pravik,quickly realizes that his team is too small and asks the fire bri-gades from Pripyat, the town of Chernobyl and the entire areaof Kiev for their assistance. Pravik and his team climb onto theroof of the machine hail and start their attempts to extinguishthe fire. The fire brigade, from Pripyat arrives minutes laterand fights the fires in the reactor building. Pravik and several

Times-zones

Local times: At the time of the 1986 accident, Ukraine was

one of the Republics of the USSR (Union of Socialist So-viet Republics) and had Moscow-time (GMT+3). AlthoughUkraine changed its time to GMT+2 after it declared inde-pendence from Moscow in August 1991, times mentionedin the Chronology are historical local times (GMT+3).

Times mentioned concerning Sweden's Forsmark, arealso GMT+3. Time difference (in 1986) between Cherno-byl and Sweden was 2 hours.


5/20


firemen from Pripyat die later of radiation illness.01.45 hours: New teams offirefighters from the area arrive.

They know nothing about the danger of radiation, have no pro-tective clothing or dosimeters. One of the fire engine drivers,Grigory Khmel later said: "We arrived at ten minutes to two inthe morning. We saw graphite lying everywhere. I kicked a bitof it. Another fireman picked up a piece and said 'hot'. Neitherof us had any idea of radiation. My colleagues Kolya, P ravik

and others all went up the ladder to the roof of the reactor. Inever saw them again."02.15 hours: The Pripyat department of the Ministry of HomeAffairs calls a crisis meeting. It is decided to organize a roadblock in order to prevent cars from entering or leaving thetown. Police assistance is requested. Thousands of police ar-rive; and, as with the firefighters, they have no knowledge ofradiation, no dosimeters or protective clothing. Later, in 1988,it is admitted that a total of 16,500 police were deployed.At that moment (1988) of those, 57 people had developedchronic radiation illness, 1500 of them suffered from chronicrespiratory problems and 4000 suffered from other symptoms.03.12 hours: An alarm signal goes off at the army headquar-ters in the central area of the Soviet Union at 03.12 hours.

General Pikalov decides to send in troops to help. They arrivein Kiev at 14.00 hours. These are the first people to arrive wellprepared for their task. About the same time, the responsibleauthorities such as the Energy Minister, A. Mayorets, hear thatan accident has occurred, but are led to believe it is a smalldefect.05.00 hours: In spite of the fires, Chernobyl Unit 3 is notclosed down until five o'clock am.06.35 hours: No fewer than 37 fire brigades, with a total of186 fire fighters, have been called in to extinguish all the fires;the fire in the reactor could not actually be extinguished. Theimportance of the deployment of these fire fighters cannot beemphasized enough. The roof of Unit 3 caught fire immedia-tely, which meant that this reactor could have been seriously

damaged as well. The nuclear plants' machine hell is alsoconnected to Units 1 and 2. An explosion in the machine hallcould have led to the destruction of all four Chernobyl reac-tors. An explosion was only averted by spraying nitrogen atthe last minute. Four of the eight people who did this diedshortly afterwards.20.00 hours: A government committee is established, led byValery Legasov; at eight o'clock in the evening the committee

arrives in the area. They are surprised by the bits of graphitethey see lying around. None of them suspect a graphite fire.

26 April to 4 May 1986: Most of the radiation is released in

the first ten days. At first, southerly and southeasterly winds

predominate. The first radioactive cloud went high into the

atmosphere and winds blew it northwest away from Ukraine

toward Sweden. It was Kiev's good fortune that the wind

carried the radioactive cloud away at first rather than directly

to the Ukrainian capital and its 3 million population as it did

several days later. At the end of April the wind switches to the

north and northwest. There are frequent but local showers.

This results in a very varied regional and local distribution of

the radiation.

27 April (Sunday)

A radius of 10 km around the plant (cities of Pripyat and Ya-nov) evacuated (for three days they are told) (50.000 people)to the town of Poliske (50 km west coincidently -?- wind isblowing in that direction too). Dosimeters are confiscated.01.13 hours: The operation of Units 1 and 2 had already beenstopped at 01.13 and 02.13 hours, twenty-four hours after thestart of the accident at Block 407.00 hours: General Pikalov sets out in a truck fitted out withradiation apparatus. He rams through the closed gates andstops at the plant to measure the radiation. He establishesthat the graphite in the reactor is burning, and that an enor-mous amount of radiation and heat is being given off. Shortly


6/20


afterwards - the government in Moscow is warned.The government committee discusses the necessity ofevacuation of the nearby town of Pripyat. Everyone supportsevacuation except Professor A.L.Ilyin, chairman of the SovietCouncil for Radiation Protection. He thinks the radiationsituation will improve. By now, as it is understood that grap-hite is burning and that radiation is being released, furthersteps are taken. Firstly, extinguishing water is added. This is

a dangerous mistake. Due to the high temperature, the waterseparates into hydrogen and oxygen, and this mixture of gascan explode; an explosion like this releases heat. Thus, thefire is not extinguished, but fanned by the water. After threefruitless attempts to extinguish the fire, the authorities decideto throw sand, lead and boron carbide onto the reactor fromhelicopters. Boron carbide can absorb neutrons and stop theuraniumfission. Lead absorbs heat, enabling the temperatureto drop. Sand is to extinguish the fires. Between 27 April and1 May, about 1800 helicopter flights deposit around 5000 tonsof extinguishing materials such as sand and lead onto theburning reactor.

28 April (Monday)

Forsmark NPP Sweden (times are Chernobyl-times)09:00 hours: An alarm was sent from Reactor 1, where aroutine check revealed that the soles of the shoes worn by aradiological safety engineer were radioactive.Lars Wahlstrm, radiology supervisor at Forsmark, has giventhis summary of the events:"Something indicated that radioactivity had leaked out fromone of the blocks at Forsmark. Rumors about the activitycirculated between noon and 14hours and people said 'Nowlet's leave here.' At the same time news arrived that radioac-tivity had been detected in Finland. I said, I want evidence.Among other things I called Studsviks Energiteknik AB, wheremanagement was sitting in a crisis meeting and where theysaid 'We think it's coming from one of our laboratories.' But

that wasn't so. Soon I also began to have doubts that therewas anything wrong in any of the Forsmark reactors, whichI told the National Institute of Radiation Protection. We hadeven been inside the chimney and checked. Then the Institutesaid the fallout had come from somewhere in the east, and byaround 15.30 it was determined that the fallout definitely didnot come from Forsmark."20:00 hours: Radio Moscow broadcasts a Tass statementthat there has been an accident at the Chernobyl nuclearpower station and that there have been casualties. Measuresare being taken to eliminate consequences of the accident.Aid is being given to those affected. A government com-mission has been set up according to Tass. From about 30minutes later west-European news agencies are reporting anincident in a Ukrainian nuclear reactor23:00 hours: A Danish nuclear research laboratory announ-ces that an MCA (maximum credible accident) has occurredin the Chernobyl nuclear reactor. They mention a completemeltdown of one of the reactors and that all radioactivity hasbeen released.

29 April (Tuesday)

- The sixth item on the main television evening news program,Vremya, says that 2 people died during the accident, a portionof the reactor building was destroyed, and residents of Pripyatand three nearby towns were evacuated.- The first real information in the western world came on

Tuesday morning, when a powerful American reconnaissancesatellite provided Washington analysts with photos of Cher-nobyl. They were shocked to see the roof blown off above thereactor and the glowing mass still smoking. The first Soviet

photos of the Chernobyl accident were censored by removalof the smoke before being printed in the newspapers.- The first official statement by German authorities: Ministerof the Interior Zimmermann states there is no danger for theGerman public: danger only exists in a radius of 30-50 km ofthe reactor.- Polish authorities decide to distribute iodine tablets in thenorth-east of the country to infants and children to protect

them from thyroid cancer.

30 April (Wednesday)

- Tass carries a government statement denying westernreports on mass casualties. The statement repeats the earlierassertion that only two people died during the accident andthat 197 have been hospitalized and levels of radiation aredecreasing- Press reports on fire in second unit: scientist see second fireon satellite images, claims are later denied17.00 hours: The reactor fire seems to be extinguished.

May - December 1986

1 May:The accident did not interfere with the May Day para-

des held on the 1st of May in the Ukrainian capital Kiev andthe Belarusian capital Minsk. Apparently the government wan-ted to emphasize that all was "normal" although the reactorwas still burning and invisible, deadly radioactivity was pouringinto the air. However, the Soviet Communists bureaucrats andthe nomenclature immediately after the accident removed theirchildren from Kiev and other threatened areas while assuringothers that everything was normal until several days later- The authorities claim the situation is stable. But the amountof radiation released is still enormous, besides which, the windhas changed direction and is now blowing in the direction ofKiev. The material thrown onto the plant does not completelyextinguish the fire and in fact generates a rise in temperature.Scientists and engineers become aware of a new danger. The

hot reactor core could melt into the cement and end up in thewater reservoir underneath. A steam explosion would follow,even more powerful than the first explosion.2 May: More and more radioactivity is released into the area.Fire fighters start pumping the water out of the storage reser-voir underneath the reactor, a long and dangerous task, notcompleted until 8 May. As a reward, the firefighters receive1000 rubles each (approximately 2000 US dollars according tothe official rate of exchange).- Politburo members Ryzhkov and Ligachev visit Chernobyl.Ukrainian party leader Volodymyr Shcherbitsky visits the areaalso. Shcherbitsky survived the Chernobyl crisis and was notcriticized in the Western press as was Gorbachov for his long18 day delay in speaking publicly about Chernobyl- A 30 kilometer zone around the reactor is designated forevacuation (90.000 people).- According to the Russian permanent representative at theIAEA, chainreaction inside the reactor has stopped4 May:The firstfilm footage, shot from a helicopter, is shownon Vremya. The commentator says the film disproves Westernreports of massive destruction- A second step taken to prevent a steam explosion is that ofmaking holes in the earth under the reactor. Fluid nitrogen ispumped into them to freeze the earth.- Radioactive cloud reaches J apan (8-9,000 km from Cherno-byl)5 May: A government report says an embankment is being

constructed on the Pripyat River to prevent it from being con-taminated- To start with, there is a great deal of radioactivity released,nearly as much as on 26 April. However, the release later


7/20


stops almost entirely. No acceptable explanation has yet beenfound for this fact. According to Grigory Medvedev, who was amember of the government committee, the fire was extinguis-hed because the graphite had burnt up.- Canada: health officials found that Ottawa rains carried sixtimes as much radioactive iodine as is considered acceptablefor drinking-water- Increased radiation levels are measured in the USA, too

- Hans Blix, director-general, and a IAEA delegation arrives inMoscow. Unsure if the can visit the area6 May: The first extensive report on the situation appears inPravda.- schools in Gomel and Kiev closed, all children are sentelsewhere. This brings total number of people forced to leave:500.000. 140.000 of which are not allowed to return- Kiev radio finally, eleven days late, warned its audiencenot to eat leafy vegetables and to stay indoors as much aspossible. The Soviet government was very slow to warn itscitizens of the precautions they should take: keep children andpregnant women indoors, avoid fresh vegetables and milk,don't drink rainwater, and wash your clothes and your shoesevery time you come in.

7 May: Tass reports that many Kiev residents are trying toleave the city and that additional trains and flights have beenscheduled. The (Russian) media drops its insistence that eve-rything is under control.- Bavarian Environmental minister Alfred Dick criticizes maxi-mum radiation levels for vegetables and meat of the (German)Radiation Protection Agency. He says: If we now start to havemaximum levels for Cesium too, we will not even be able toeat meat shortly!8 May: In an interview with Izvestiya, Academician YevgenyVelikhov, vice-president of the Soviet Academy of Sciencesand chief scientist sent to Chernobyl, says the disaster iswithout precedent.9 May: IAEA states that Moscow started to encapsulate the

reactor, especially pouring concrete under the reactor, preven-ting it from reaching groundwater10 May: According to the IAEA the fire is extinguished, buttemperature in reactor is still rather high. Meanwhile Ukrainiangovernment official states: reactor is still burning and fire-fighters are continuously trying to put the fire out.11 May: three local officials in charge of the transport com-bine at the plant, are expelled from the party, or reprimandedfor mistakes concerning evacuations14 May: Gorbachov speaks for the first time publicly about theaccident on Vremya. He insisted there was no cover-up: Themoment we received reliable data we gave it to the Sovietpeople and sent it abroad. He declared his desire for "seri-ous cooperation" with the IAEA, with respect to four specificproposals:1. The creation of an international regime for safe develop-ment of nuclear energy involving close cooperation among allnuclear energy-using states;2. A highly authoritative special international conference inVienna under the aegis of the IAEA to discuss these "complexquestions";3. An increased role and scope for IAEA;4. Safe development of "peaceful nuclear activities," involvingthe United Nations and its specialized departments, such asthe World Health Organization (WHO) and the United NationsEnvironmental Program (UNEP)

These proposals suggested that Gorbachov was broadening

the scope of the accident to one of international concern, butat the same time he was implying that such accidents werecommon enough to warrant the establishment of a globalregime to deal with them.

15 to 16 May: Newfires break out and more radiation isreleased.22 May: Russian First Deputy Health Minister denies popularbelieve that vodka (& red wine) is a good cure for radiationexposure.23 May: A Soviet government committee orders the distribu-

tion of iodine preparations. At this point, such prophylaxis isof no medical value. Radioactive iodine is only active for tendays, and will already have accumulated in the thyroid glandsof the inhabitants of the contaminated territories.27 May: A month after the accident the danger is not yet over,.A concrete foundation will be made, the idea of the sarcopha-gus is born30 May: An unprecedented concert took place in MoscowsOlympic Stadium. The pop concert was organized by leading

Soviet rock bands to raise funds for the Chernobyl victims

April-October

Soviet authorities try to hush up the scale of the tragedy,

admitting reluctantly that about 30 people had died in the first

few weeks after the blast. Hundreds of thousands of people

(many military reservists) from all over the Soviet Union, now

popularly known as "liquidators," are mobilized by the Com-

munist Party to clean up the disaster.

The Liquidators are those people who were recruited or for-

ced to assist in the cleanup or the "liquidation" of the conse-

quences of the accident. As a totalitarian government the So-

viet Union forced many young soldiers to assist in the cleanup

of the Chernobyl accident, apparently without sufficient

protective clothing and insufficient explanation of the dangers

involved. Over 650,000 liquidators helped in the cleanup in the

first year. The total number is estimated to be over 1 million.

Many of those who worked as liquidators became ill and ac-

cording to some estimates about 8,000 to 10,000 have died in

the first few years after the accident from the radioactive dose

they received. Many more of these young healthy men died in

the following years.

9 June: By accident a foundation of lead was establishedunder the reactor. Tons of lead thrown on the burning reactor,melted and leaked under the reactor. When the temperaturedecreased it solidified.

15 June: Almost the complete management team of the reac-tor has been dismissed for irresponsibility and lack of control,Pravda announces. Amongst them Chernobyl Director VictorBryukanov and deputies (senior engineer) Nikolai Fomin who

Mikhail Gorbachov

Mikhail Gorbachov had been in offi

ce only 13 monthswhen Chernobyl occurred. He had arrived to a warmresponse from Western political leaders. Much youngerand more active than his predecessors, he appeared toherald a time of change in the USSR. In 1986, however,he inherited an ossified Soviet state that was LeonidBrezhnev's legacy. Gorbachov's reaction to Chernobylwas very cautious but, in addition to the defensive postureadopted by his government initially, he also indicated awillingness to cooperate with the IAEA. It should be notedthat in 1985 the USSR had agreed to IAEA inspections ofsome of its nuclear reactors, and thus this policy was notnecessarily a new departure. Similarly, aid offered fromlong-established "friends of the USSR" abroad was also

accepted, while that of individual governments was turneddown.


8/20


will be brought on trial a year later.20 July: Report (which will be published in full later) of theGovernment commission of inquiry found that human errorcaused the disaster.20 August: The full report on the cause of the accident wassubmitted (in Russian) to the IAEA. It states there was anextraordinary sequence of carelessness, mismanagement andviolations of safety codes leading to the accident.

26 August: Estonian press tell of strikes and demonstrationsby Estonian military reservists forcibly conscripted Chernobylfor clean-up labor. In November reports claim 12 people wereexecuted.20 September: The Soviet Union paid already US$3 billion,mainly for relocation, compensation and loss of power.29 September: Block 1 of the Chernobyl NPP restarts again,and connects to the grid on Oct. 1.10 October: Construction-work on Block 5 & 6 is resumed.9 November: Block 2 restarts.14 December: A concrete roof ("sarcophagus") is completedover the fourth reactor. It is built to protect the environmentfrom radiation for at least 30 years. 300,000 tons of concreteand 6,000 tons of metal constructions were utilized.

1987

March: Vladimir Chevchenko, a Russian filmmaker who madethe documentary: Chernobyl, chronicle of frightening weeks,dies due to radiation illness21 April: Reactor 3 is supplying electricity again24 April: Construction work on Block 5&6 halted after it wasresumed on Oct 10, 1986. On May 23, 1989 it is decided notto complete the reactors30 July: it was reported that three Russians, Chernobyl Direc-tor Victor Bryukanov and deputies Nikolai Fomin and AnatolyDyatlov were brought to trial and "were found guilty of grossviolation of safety regulations which led to the explosion"and were sentenced to 10 years in labor camp. They werereleased at the end of 1990.16 September: The Chernobyl disaster will cost the SovietUnion UKPounds 200 billion economic damage, a senior Mo-scow official disclosed.November: The U.S. government officially doubled its esti-mate of the background radiation.5/6 December: Still problems with radiation escaping formreactor 4

1988

Norway increased the limit for cesium in reindeer meat forconsumption to 6000 Bq/kg. This is extremely high. Swedenalso increased their limit to 1500Bq/kg from 300Bq/kg in May

1987. Most countries have a limit of 600 Bq/kg. And even thisfigure is heavily criticized. But due to this limit much of thereindeer meat can be sold in Scandinavian countries5 January: Block 3 (which shared a turbine-hall with Block 4)is restarted.February: In the period May-August 1986, between 20,000-40,000 more Americans than usual died. Statistics cant provewhether or not it was caused by Chernobyl, but you cantescape the fact that something happened in the summer of198627 April: Two years after the accident Valery Legasov com-mits suicide. He was the director of the Kurchatov Institute forNuclear Energy, where the RBMK reactors were designed.He was also chairman of the scientific team sent to Cherno-

byl immediately after the accident on 26 April 1986 He leftbehind his memoirs in which he expresses his anger anddespair about the safety of nuclear energy in the Soviet Union.He wrote that he wanted to study the safety problems of the

RBMK reactors, and for this reason was opposed by peoplewho said there were no problems. Legasov also wrote thatthere was a certain inevitability in working towards the acci-dent at Chernobyl. Valery Legasov was the head of the Sovietdelegation presenting the research report to the congress inVienna..August: Sweden: With the opening of the deer huntingseason came alarming news. The Samen in northern Scandi-

navia are hard hit by the fall-out as there culture and livelihooddepends on reindeer. The majority of animals killed containedmore than the consumption limit of 1500 Bq/kg caesium-137.

The level of cesium in lake fish has also increased over lastyear.September: Soviet authorities decided to turn the 30 km zoneinto a national park. All human activity, including farming isbanned there.22 December: Soviet scientists announce that the sarcopha-gus now enclosing the reactor was designed for a lifetime ofonly 20 to 30 years.

1989

Start of the second resettlement phase. About 100 000 people

have to leave their villages in the severely contaminated ter-ritories of Belarus, Ukraine and Russia.26 January: Politburo unexpectedly announced a new cam-paign (concentrated on Belarus) to cope with the consequen-ces of the disaster.February: The first maps highlighting radiation fallout fromChernobyl are published in the Soviet press.23 February: First visit of Soviet president Michael Gorbachovto Chernobyl. He spends one hour at the site.May: Norway: According to the Isotope Lab of the AgriculturalUniversity of Norway, 95% of radioactive elements are stillpresent in upper soil layers and weathering processes withinthe next few years may increase the uptake of the Chernobylfallout in the food chain (major grazing areas for livestock anddomestic reindeer have been particular affected).23 May: Decision not to complete the two units under con-struction. Construction work on Block 5 & 6 resumed on Oct10, 1986, and already halted on April 24 198726 October: Tass reports that during the following year100,000 people will be evacuated from contaminated areas inBelarus.

3- TRYING TO MINIMIZE THE CONSEQUENCES

1990

Collaboration between Western scientists and experts from

Belarus, Ukraine and Russia begins. A delegation of Germanscientists visits the Chernobyl nuclear power station and theaffected regions.April: According to Yuri Shcherbak, vice-chairman of the Su-preme Soviet Commission on Environment & Nuclear Energysaid some US320 billion will be needed to handle the conse-quences of Chernobyl in the next 10 years.26 April: A marathon broadcast of 24 hours to raise aware-ness and money for Chernobyl victims. On soviet nationaltelevision Telethon Chernobyl on Channel 3 collects aboutUS$100 million.19 August: IAEA claims the sarcophagus is due to high tem-peratures and radiation no longer reliable. A new catastrophecannot be ruled out.

September. Computer data stolen in Minsk and destroyedabout health situation and radiation levels from over 670,000people living in the eastern part of Belarus. Also contaminationdetails from 20,000 settlements were on the disks.


9/20


21 September: The IAEA and the Governments of the SovietUnion, the Belarussian and Ukrainian SSR sign a frameworkagreement on the international consequences of the accident.The Chernobyl area affords according to the IAEA press re-lease, unique possibilities for carrying out scientific researchunder post-accident conditions, including some areas whereradiation levels have subsides but are still above normal back-ground levels.

1991

A specialized enterprise was organized, and all further workin the zone was done on a professional basis. (All people whoworked in the zone until 1990, no matter what task, got statusas "liquidator" and the right to social benefits.)April: Soviet authorities announce 200,000 people have beenevacuated, in 1991 another 112,000 will be evacuated and in1992 about 12,000.April: Laka Foundation publishes in the WISE News Commu-nique an extensive list of contaminated foodstuffs dumped onthe world market (especially in southern countries) in the firstfive years. (see: http://www10.antenna.nl/wise/349-50/conta.html)

15 April: rumors circulating since May 1986 about Soviet airforce producing artificially rain from radioactive clouds movingtowards Moscow in the first days after the accident early May1986 are confirmed by soviet scientists during a conference inBerlin, Germany. At the same conference Professor Chernou-senko claims, already 7,000 10,000 people have died as aresult of Chernobyl.26 April: On the fifth anniversary of Chernobyl there are massdemonstrations in Kiev and Minsk. The world press focuseson the event, highlighting new evacuations, alleged sicknes-ses in contaminated zones, and the continuing operation ofSoviet RBMK reactors, including those at Chernobyl.26 April: a special stamp to commemorate the accident islaunched in the Soviet Union.

Sovietstampto com-memorateChernobylaccident,1991

21 May:

IAEA/IACreleasesstudy: As-sessment

of Radiological Consequences and Evaluation of Measures for

the Chernobyl Accident

IAEA conclusions:- there were no health disorders that could be directly attri-buted to radiation exposure. There were no indications of anincrease in the incidence of leukemia and cancers;- there were significant non-radiation related health disordersin the populations of both the surveyed contaminated settle-ments and control settlements;

- the accident had substantial negative psychological conse-quences in terms of anxiety and stress due to continuing andhigh levels of uncertainty, relocation and other measures;- early evacuations undertaken by the authorities in cases

which could be assessed by the projects were broadlyreasonable and consistent with internationally-establishedguidelines- protective measures taken or planned for the longer term,generally exceed what would have been strictly necessary- official procedures for estimating doses were significantlysound- etc

Main criticism on the report:- study excluded from its subject of investigation the liquida-tors (estimated up to 600,000)- study excluded the 30 km contaminated zone- study excluded the evacuees from the zone (up to 95,000 100,000)- study excluded hot spots- There is some ambiguousness about the settlements chosenfor the study: it would seem the selection was deliberate andarbitrary- The report substantially underestimate the amount of expo-sure, particularly the lifetime dose. It appears that externalexposure is estimated at one-third to one-fourth, and internalexposure at about one-tenth

- It is not clear how control groups were obtained. Thus, eventhough the study recognizes many illnesses and deaths, it wasnot able to link them to radiation- Friends of the Earth claims that the IAEA scientists arescientifically incompetent because they draw concrete con-clusions on the basis of what they themselves admit are notalways adequate data.- The scientist had little or no access to pre-accident health re-cords, leaving them unable to compare pre- and post-accidentlevels of disease and health disorders- Etc.According to Greenpeace the only aim of the study was toproduce a thirty-second sound-bite which is pleasing to theear of the Soviet authorities we didnt find radiation-induced

health effects is constructed to avoid implicating radiation inthe disaster24 August: Ukraine declares independence from the SovietUnion after a failed hard-line coup in Moscow.29 August: On top of the want-list of the independent Uk-raine is the closure of Chernobyl12 October: After a fire breaks out in the second Chernobylreactor, this unit too has to be shut down for good.18 November: Ukraine plans to close the remaining reactorsat Chernobyl in 1993 at the latest.12 December: Two Bulgarian ex-ministers are sentenced toimprisonment of 3 and 2 years, because they found guilty ofhushing up the dangers of Chernobyl to the Bulgarian popula-tion after the 1986 accident

1992

March: Ukrainian government reports that cracks have ap-peared in the sarcophagus. An international competition is tobe held for a design for a replacement roof.May & August: forestfires lift radiation levels in Belarus,againJuly: Ukrainian government launches an international com-petition (Shelter-2 competition) for the best project to preventthe ruins of the reactor from threatening public health andthe environment. A new shelter (sarcophagus) is urgentlyneeded.18 September: US experts estimate the economic damage for

Ukraine due to Chernobyl at about US$150 billion15 October: Block 3 is brought back online. Number 2 will fol-low at the end of the month29 November: Ukrainian nuclear experts warn for Ameri-


10/20


cium-241. This Pu-241 daughter emits alpha-radiation and isseen as more dangerous as its parent. Experts say alpha-radi-ation will be much higher in 50-70 years from now and hope itwill not spread outside the 30km zone. (see August 4, 2005)

1993

January to March: Establishment of a thyroid centre in Go-mel by the Otto Hug Strahleninstitut, Munich. Gomel is a large

city with a population of 500 000 in the most severely contami-nated region of Belarus.April: World Health Organization expects sharp rise in bothleukemia and cancers, after numbers in both are increasing18 June: The international Shelter-2 competition ends. ButUkrainian government does not award a first prize. The Frenchconsortium Campenon Bernard receives a second prize. Noneof the 19 concepts on the shortlist fulfils all Ukrainian requi-rements. Unclear what happens next. Ukraine is looking toestablish an international fund to raise money.22 October: Ukrainian government decided, due to electricityshortage not to close the remaining Chernobyl reactors andsuspends a moratorium on new built9 December: Russian geochemist Valerin Kopejkin claims

that if international radiation limits for Strontium-90 would beinstalled in the Ukraine, Kiev has to be evacuated.

1994

February: The U.S. Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT) releases report: emissions at Chernobylfive timeshigher than official IAEA estimate of 50 million curies. MITclaims 185-250 million Curies was released.9/10 October: Decision that remaining Chernobyl reactors willnot be closed before 1996 at the earliest

1995

February: The first phase of the European Union-study forstabilizing the sarcophagus ends. The study claims it is ahuge open radiation source. The consortium is pointing to thedanger of collapse of the first sarcophagus and the problemsof radioactive waste in case of constructing a second contain-ment. Start of construction is foreseen in April 1996.March: 100 times more thyroid cancers in Gomel, Belarus,WHO claims in report published in British Medical J ournal.13 April: President Leonid Kuchma declares Ukraine is readyto shut down the remaining reactors of the plant by the year2000. His statement follows a meeting with European Com-mission officials in Kiev.25 April: Ukrainian minister of public health Andrej Serdchuk:125,000 people died due to Chernobyl, 432,000 still treated,3.66 million affected.July:

In a resolution adopted at a Kiev Conference organi-zed amongst others by WHO, it is said that mental disordersspreading among Chernobyl-affected people20-23 November: newfindings presented at a WHO confe-rence in Geneva, suggest that radiation could also be increa-sing the incidence of strokes, heart attacks and liver disease,as well as damaging the brains of babies at the womb22 December: At a meeting in the Canadian capital Ottawa,Ukraine and the G7 group of the world's leading industriali-zed nations sign a Memorandum of Understanding, agreeingto close Chernobyl. It involves commitments worth a total ofsome US$2.3 billion in aid from the G7 to support Chernobyl'sclosure by the year 2000. The agreed package of loans forUkraine's energy sector includes the completion of two more

modern nuclear reactors at Rivne (R4) and Khmelnytsky (K2)stations in the west of the country. The aid package includesUS$498 million in G7 member grants and $1.8 billion in loanfinancing from international agencies. Most of the grant money

-- US$349 million - will be for nuclear decommissioning andsafety. More than US$1.9 billion will be spent to upgrade nu-clear plants and the energy sector as a whole.

1996

April: 20 seconds before the 1986 accident an earthquake oc-curred in that region. According to Russian scientists it is notimpossible the seriousness of the accident could have been

increased as a result of that.April: Genetic mutations have occurred twice as often in child-ren of families exposed to the radioactive fallout as elsewhere8-12 April: The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),together with the World Health Organization (WHO) and theEuropean Commission (EC), organized the conference "OneDecade after Chernobyl: Summing up the Consequences".

The conclusions of the IAEA on the health effects of the Cher-nobyl disaster are as follows:- The death rate among "liquidators" did not exceed that for acorresponding age group.- Thus far, the only admitted health effect due to radiation is anincrease in thyroid cancers in children. 890 cases were detec-ted. In the coming decades, several more thousands of cases

of thyroid cancer (4,000-8,000) can be expected.- No significant increase in leukemia has been found.- Future cancer deaths will be about 6,660: 2,200 among liqui-dators and 4,460 among residents and evacuees of contami-nated areas.- Other health effects are related to psychological stress: fearof radiation and a distrust in the government.[1]See box: IAEA underestimates health consequences

25 April: A French government minister acknowledged thatthe French were misled about the impact of the disaster.Whether forecasters on state television even told viewers thatthe radioactive cloud had stopped at Frances borders.26 April: The President of the UN General Assembly, DiogoFreitas do Amaral (Portugal), delivers a statement at the spe-cial commemorative meeting on the tenth anniversary of theChernobyl accident. In his speech he states: There continuesto be an acute need for further assistance to the peoples andcountries for whom Chernobyl represents a crushing burden[..]. To ignore this continuing humanitarian tragedy would beto reduce these people and the areas most affected to mereobjects of scientific research.November: Chernobyl shuts down reactor Number One. Onlyreactor Number Three remains in operation.11 November: Cases of thyroid cancer among children inUkraine, Belarus and Russia are up by roughly 200 per centcompared to the 1980s. The WHO estimates that around 4

million people in these three countries have been affectedby the nuclear disaster. Roughly one million are undergoingmedical treatment for consequential health impairments.December: Authorities of Belarus launched a campaign toreturn people to regions which have suffered from Chernobyl.Nesterenko (director of Institute for Radiation Safety) warnsfor a serious error.

1997April: Belarus has to spent 25% of its national annual budgeton dealing with the effects of the 1986 disaster.June: President Kuchma says Ukraine is spending US$1 bil-lion a year to combat the aftermathNovember: At a conference in New York, dozens of nationscollect $350 million to rebuild the rapidly deteriorating concrete

sarcophagus. The reconstruction cost is estimated at $760million.November: an international assistance program for theaffected areas is launched by the UN Department of Huma-


11/20


nitarian Affairs. The program covers more than 50 projectsin such areas as the health sector, social-psychological andeconomic rehabilitation, and the environment, and is based onthe findings of an inter-agency needs assessment mission toBelarus, Russian Federation and Ukraine, undertaken in May.

December: The Chernobyl Shelter Fund (CSF) was set upwith the purpose of funding the Shelter Implementation Plan(SIP). The total costs of the SIP are estimated by the EBRDat US$768 million. Others however think the costs will bemuch higher. Vladimir Asmolov of the Russian Kurchatov Nu-clear Institute and involved in the original construction of theshelter thinks that the costs could reach as much as US$2.5billion.

1998

26 November: Scientific seminar on: Thyroid Diseases andExposure to ionizing Radiation: Lessons learned following theChernobyl accident in Luxembourg, organized by the Euro-pean Commission. One of the major health consequences ofthe Chernobyl disaster is the sudden and great increase in thenumber of persons, particularly children, with thyroid carci-noma. The presentations made at the seminar reviews theexisting knowledge on the subject of radiation induced thyroid

diseases especially in relation to the Chernobyl accident. Thesubject is treated from the four points of view: genetic andenvironmental factors influencing the radiation induced cancerrisk; thyroid doses reconstruction and risk after the Chernobylaccident; age and molecular biology; and lessons learned fol-

lowing the Chernobyl accident.14 December: for the first time Ukraine speaks about closureof the remaining Chernobyl reactors under conditions: moneyfrom the international community to finish construction of tworeactors to replace Chernobyl (K2/R4)

1999

April-May: Reconstruction of the sarcophagus begins. TheEuropean Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)releases US$130 million in grants for this first phase (improve-ments of the existing shelter).14. May: In an internal memo to France prime-minister J ospinenvironmental Minister Dominique Voynet states: a programto improve energy efficiency, would fit better to the Memoran-dum of Understanding for closure of Chernobyl, as K2/R4replacement nuclear reactors.5 August: Belarus: After being arrested on J uly 13, on August5, 1999, however, Professor Bandazhevsky was formally

IAEA underestimates health consequencesThe IAEA conclusions on Chernobyl's health effects are veryconservative and are contradicted by other studies. Theco-organizer of the conference, WHO, presented completelydifferentfigures last year. WHO, UNESCO and UNICEFsubmitted theirfindings in a 1995 report to the UN GeneralAssembly. WHO noted an increase in illnesses and deathsamong liquidators. According to the Chernobyl Union (theunion of liquidators), ten percent of the liquidators have be-come less able-bodies and are unable to do full-time work.[2] The vice-advisor of Chernobyl Affairs of the Ukrainianparliament, Wladimir Usatenko, says that according to fe-deral registers, 60,000 of the 360,000 Ukrainian liquidatorshave died (not only due to Chernobyl). Another 49,000 havebecome less able-bodied and are unable to work.[3] Theamount of tumors among Belarus liquidators is also higherthan normally could be expected [4].

The conclusion of the IAEA that the death rate among liqui-dators is not higher than normal and its silence on the highincidence of diseases indicate a lack of appreciation for thework they did. The IAEA denies that a significant increase in

leukemia among liquidators has been found. But a study ona group of liquidators shows that five years after their work,cases of leukemia reached a peak and subsequently decre-ased. The expected time between receiving a high dose ofradiation and the development of leukemia is five years. Arelation therefore seems clear.[5] The IAEA conclusion thatother health problems are related to psychological stress isquestionable. It is certainly true that liquidators and inhabi-tants of contaminated areas are fearful of the consequen-ces of the disaster. This will contribute to the illnesses thatalready exist or that can be expected in the future. But toclaim that all diseases other than thyroid cancer and leuke-mia are caused by stress is pure nonsense. The rate of birthdefects, for instance, show a correlation with the amount of

contamination. In highly-affected areas, more birth defectshave been diagnosed and the defects are worse in nature.In Belarus an increase of 161 percent has been recorded.[6]Sharp increases in diseases among children also belieIAEA's "psychological stress" claim. UNICEF statistics onthe health conditions of Belarus children from 1990 till 1994show an increase in different diseases or defects [2].It seems that the IAEA wants to relate the increase in

diseases mainly to psychological stress. Radiation wouldonly be the cause of higher incidence of thyroid cancerand leukemia. In this way, the number of deaths causedby radiation would be low. If the IAEA is to be believed, theother diseases/deaths are simply caused by stress. TheIAEA projections on future cancer deaths are very low whenone considers the dose that the liquidators and inhabitantsreceived. With the received collective dose, calculations can

be made on the expected number of cancer deaths in thefuture. When these calculations are made with dose-effectfigures from the official pro-nuclear International Commis-sion on Radiation Protection (ICRP), a death total of 50,000to 70,000 can be expected - only due to radiation exposurein the first two years after the accident.[7] The Americanradiation expert J ohn Gofman made even more dramaticcalculations. Because the ICRP dose-effectfigures are toolow, he made calculations with a figure for risk for receivedradiation six times higher. He calculated that 317,000 to475,000 deaths can be expected worldwide.[7]) The amountof 6,660 mentioned by the IAEA would certainly be too low.Sources:1. IAEA, "One decade after Chernobyl: summing up theconsequences of the accident. Conclusions." 1996;2. UN , "Strengthening of the coordination of humanitarianand disaster relief assistance ... regions". 1995;3. Der Standard Online on Internet (Austria), 12 April 1996;4. A. Okeanov, Belarussian Centre for Medical Technolo-gies, Minsk. "The health status of the liquidators accordingto the Belarussian Chernobyl registry data (preliminary

analysis)", 1995;5. Buzunov et al, "Chernobyl NPP accident consequencescleaning up participants in Ukraine health status". March1996;6. G.I. Lazuik et al, "Frequency changes of inherited anoma-lies in the Republic Belarus after the Chernobyl accident".

1995;7. Greenpeace International, "Chernobyl, 10 years after."1996 article first published in: WISE News Communique

451, 26-4-96


12/20


charged under Article 169 (3) of the Belarusian Criminal Codewith allegedly accepting bribes from students seeking admis-sion to the Gomel Medical Institute. Professor Bandazhevskyfounded the Gomel State Medical Institute and was serving asits rector at the time of his arrest. His scientific work focusedon the effects of the Chernobyl disaster on the health of thepeople living in and around the city of Gomel, a region close tothe nuclear reactor and thus seriously affected by its radio-

active emissions. According to Amnesty International, Ban-dazhevsky was outspoken in his criticism of the Belarusianauthorities handling of the Chernobyl disasters impact on thepopulations health and had repeatedly stressed the need tofind innovative solutions to the problem. He reportedly wasparticularly critical of the way that the Ministry of Health spentthe scant resources available for research in this area. Shortlybefore his arrest, Bandazhevsky wrote a report about researchconducted by the Belarusian Ministry of Healths Scientificand Clinical Research Institute for Radiation Medicine on theeffects of the Chernobyl nuclear accident. In this report, hecriticized the manner in which the governments research wascarried out and its conclusions.He was held for more than five months in pre-trial detention

under harsh conditions that included temporary isolation, apoor prison diet, and no access to legal counsel. During hisdetention he reportedly suffered from heart ailments, stomachulcers, and depression and lost approximately 44 lbs, resultingin his hospitalization. Professor Bandazhevsky was condition-ally released from prison on December 27, 1999, pending trial.

20 September: Nobody is allowed to live permanently within15 km of the power plant site. And yet, in the early 1990s, el-derly people began to re-occupy their houses in the said zone.According to the authorities, there have been some 1500, twothirds of them women. About 50 people again took up resi-dence in Chernobyl itself. This resettlement is being toleratedby the authorities.18 November: A Coordination Committee Meeting at theMinisterial Level on International Cooperation on Chernobyltakes place in New York. US$9.51 million is required for the1999 Appeal distributed in May. Though the international com-munity has largely contributed to the shelter fund, the affectedpopulations have been chronically under funded. The ninepriority projects in the 1999 Appeal are: the modernizationof the Bragin Hospital, the establishment of child rehabilita-tion centers, the rehabilitation of contaminated sectors in theGomel area (Belarus); providing diagnosis, treatment andrehabilitation of liquidators, improving management and useof contaminated forests, and studying the health status ofthe posterity of persons affected by radiation. (Ukraine); thescreening of 100,000 children exposed to radiation for earlydiagnosis of thyroid pathology, strengthening the network ofcentres for social and psychological rehabilitation, and produc-tion lines for measuring and packaging of diary products forthe Bryansk region.

2000

13 January:The Ukrainian Government commissions anoverall concept: parts of the Chernobyl area are to be re-cultivated.March: According to documents from the Ukrainian AtomicEnergy regulatory commission, published by Greenpeace, thesafety of the remaining Chernobyl reactors is not guaranteedafter August

March: Belarus: Girls in affected areas had five times thenormal rate of deformations in their reproductive systems andboys three times the norm. It is clear we are seeing geneticchanges, especially among those who were less than six

years of age when subjected to radiation, says Vladislav Os-tapenko, head of Belarus radiation medicine instituteApril: Kuchma reaffirms Chernobyl is to be closed by the yearend, but gives no date.April: The UN Office for the Coordination of HumanitarianAffairs (OCHA) releases the report "Chernobyl disaster acontinuing catastrophe". The authors concludes: The radiolo-gical conditions in the area immediately surrounding the plant

have largely improved, thanks to the international commit-ment to improved safety at Chernobyl, which allowed for thereconstruction and now reinforcement of the sarcophagus.However, the human consequences of the accident continueto be relentlessly harsh. The EBRD expects to complete therefurbishment of the Chernobyl plant site by 2007. A sum ofUS$400 million has already been pledged for this operation.A contribution from donor countries of just 3 per cent of thisamount would have a substantial impact on the alleviation ofhuman suffering that has resulted from this accident.26 April: While visiting the Chernobyl zone, president Luka-shenko of Belarus announces plans to re-locate people to thezone. People moving from other parts of the Commonwealthof Independent States will be given the Belarus nationality

within one week, he says.May: Swedish radiation protection authorities have issued re-commendations for the handling of ashes from biomass-fuel-led electricity plants. It was calculated that 5-7% of the yearlyamount of bio fuel ash has to be stored as radioactive waste.6 June: Kuchma tells visiting U.S.-President Clinton that theex-Soviet state will shut down the station on December 15.Clinton says the U.S. will give Ukraine $78 million in freshfunds to help improve safety at the plant.5 July:The EBRD administers the Chernobyl Shelter Fund.As of J uly 2000, 37 countries had contributed US$715 millionto the fund, which is 93% of the overall project cost estimate.Most of the money comes from the European Union and theG-7 countries.

The first phase of the Shelter Implementation Plan (SIP) con-sisted of an expedited review of the collapse risk and the mostcritical repairs were conducted. Further, studies were conduc-ted and designs been made for a structural stabilization of theshelter, to be conducted in the second phase. Two projects ofthe first phase which had to start without delay were repairsof the beams supporting the roof of the shelter (1999) andstabilization of the ventilation stack (1998), whose possiblecollapse was also threatening the then still operating reactor3. The second phase will consist of the actual strengtheningof the present sarcophagus and the construction of the newcovering shelter.November-December: Chernobyl engineers prepare to shutdown the last functioning reactor, Number Three, on De-cember 15. The last fuel rods will not be removed until 2008and it will be between 30 and 100 years before the station iscompletely decommissioned. The EBRD and the EuropeanUnion each pledge to lend Ukraine hundreds of millions of dol-lars to finish construction of Soviet-era reactors at Rivne andKhmelnitsky (K2/R4) in western Ukraine, to replace lost ca-pacity from Chernobyl. The EBRD loan is for US$215 million,while the EU pledges $585 million. Environmentalists protestagainst the loans, which they say are going toward reactorswhich, although safer than Chernobyl's, are still based onageing technology.12 December: The Chernobyl reactor complex is shut down.

4- AFTERMATH: NO LESSONS LEARNED2001

April: At an international conference, "Fifteen Years After theChernobyl Accident - Lessons Learned" in Kiev, experts, UN


13/20


organizations and the IAEA reach a minimal consensus in theevaluation of health effects. A direct link between the accidentand thyroid cancer among children is recognized internation-ally. Indications for other consequences are being observed,however with limited resources.4-8 June: International Scientific Conference on Health Ef-fects of the Chernobyl Accident: Results of 15-Year Follow-UpStudies in Kiev, Ukraine. One of the many findings: Liquida-

tors' state of health worsenedconsiderably since the ac-cident, high levels of generalsomatic diseases, morbidityincreased more than 17 timesbetween 1991 and 2000.18 June: After being arres-ted in J uly 1999, ProfessorBandazhevsky was broughtto trial in Gomel in February2001. On J une 18, 2001, theMilitary Board of the Belaru-sian Supreme Court convic-ted him and sentenced him

to eight years imprisonment.His property was confiscated,and he is prohibited fromexercising his political rightsand assuming any managerialposition for five years fol-lowing his release.October: After visiting theaffected regions, a delegationof national and internationalexperts sponsored by theUnited Nations DevelopmentProgram (UNDP) and theUnited Nations Office for the

Coordination of HumanitarianAffairs (OCHA) calls for a newapproach in aid programs.

They recommend a develop-mental approach, shifting theemphasis from "help for vic-tims" towards helping peopleto help themselves.

2002

6 February: The UnitedNations calls for an enti-rely new approach to helpingmillions of people impactedby the Chernobyl accident,saying that 16 years after theincident those affected remainin a state of chronic depen-dency, with few opportunitiesand little control over theirdestinies. The report The Human Consequences of the Cher-nobyl Nuclear Accident notes that some 7 million people arein some way or another recipients of state welfare connectedwith Chernobyl.

See box: Human consequences of the Chernobyl accident

2003April: secret KGB documents released in Ukraine show thatthere were problems with the Chernobyl nuclear plant. One1984 document notes deficiencies in the third and fourth

block, and also of poor quality of some equipment sent fromYugoslav companies.27 June: The International Chernobyl Research and Infor-mation Network (ICRIN) is launched by the UN Inter-Agency

Task Force on Chernobyl in Geneva. The objective of theinternational network is to make Chernobyl research resultssystematically accessible both to the affected population andto the authorities and decision-makers, and also to identify

gaps in existing researchfindings. The www.Cher-nobyl.info website servesas an information platformfor ICRIN members andthe public at large. Theactivities and addresses ofscientific institutions andorganizations can be ac-cessed in a database onthe website.August: The EuropeanBank for Reconstructionand Development (EBRD)

said it would give UkraineUS$ 85 million this year tocover the gaping hole inreactor 4. The construc-tion of the new shelter willstart in 2004.

2004

27 April: In New York,over 600 invited guestsfrom numerous coun-tries attended the firstpublic viewing of the film"Chernobyl Heart" since it

won this year's AcademyAward for the best docu-mentary two months ago.November: Scientificevidence that fallout fromChernobyl may haveraised cancer rates inwestern Europe may haveemerged. Researchers inSweden showed a statis-tically relevant correlationbetween the degree offallout and an observedrise in the number of totalcancer cases.

2005

April: European Commis-sion confirms that res-trictions in the UK on the

transport, sale and slaughtering of sheep remain in force innumerous cattle breeding enterprises especially in the Northof Wales In Ireland and certain Scandinavian regions, monito-ring is also still conducted.April: In certain game, wild grown berries and mushroomsand in carnivorous fish (from regions in Germany, Austria,Italy, Sweden, Finland, Lithuania and Poland) the levels of

Caesium-137 still vastly exceed normal levels. In the regionsworst hit by the fall-out from Chernobyl, contamination levelswill remain high and relatively unchanged for the next deca-des, the EC believes.

Human consequences of the Chernobyl accident.

The United Nations calls for an entirely new approach to helpingmillions of people impacted by the Chernobyl accident, sayingthat 16 years after the incident those affected remain in a stateof chronic dependency, with few opportunities and little controlover their destinies. The UN warns that populations in Belarus,the Russian Federation and Ukraine would continue to expe-rience general decline unless significant new measures areadopted to address health, the environment and unemployment.

The study emphasizes the need for the recovery phase to focusattention on two broad groups:

The first group includes some 100,000 to 200,000 people

caught in the downward spiral. These are people who live inseverely contaminated areas; people who have been resettledbut remain unemployed; and those whose health remains mostdirectly threatened, including victims of thyroid cancer. Some2,000 people have been diagnosed with thyroid cancer, and thereport states that as many as 8,000 to 10,000 additional casesare expected to develop over the coming years. The reportstates that this group of up to 200,000 people, spread across allthree countries, is at the core of the cluster of problems createdby Chernobyl, and focusing on their needs and helping themtake control of their futures must be a priority.

The second group identified for priority action includes thosewhose lives have been directly and significantly affected butwho are already in a position to support themselves. This

group has found employment, but still must be reintegrated intosociety as a whole so that their ongoing needs are addressedthrough the mainstream provision of services using criteriaapplicable to other members of society. This group includeshundreds of thousands of individuals.

The report also identifies a third group, encompassing millionsof people, who have been indirectly impacted by the stigma,uncertainty and fatalism that have become associated withChernobyl. This group, too, needs to be aided through clearerinformation and more open and continuous disclosures aboutthe evolving situation in the region, the report argues. Thereport notes that some 7 million people are in some way or ano-ther recipients of state welfare connected with Chernobyl.

The study, carried out by an international panel of experts in

J uly-August 2001, was commissioned by the UNDP and theUNICEF, and was supported by the WHO and the OCHA (theUnited Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Af-fairs)


14/20


12 May: At a pledging meeting in London the EuropeanCommission announced an additional 49 million to theinternational Chernobyl Shelter Fund (CSF). A total of aboutUS$200 million are donated at the donor meeting. The projectis estimated to cost US$1,091 million and is planned to be

completed by 2009.4 August: Alpha-radiation from plutonium-241 decay productsis increasing. Pu-241 emits Beta-radiation and has a half-lifeof only 14.4 years. It decays in Americium-241which emitsalpha-radiation and has a half life 432.2 years. Result: inBelarus alpha-radiation is currently three-times as high as in1986 and in the year 2276 the level will still be twice as highas shortly after the 1986 disaster. The zones americium-241will reach its maximum level in 2059. Am-241s alpha radia-tion is even more powerful than plutoniums, and it decaysto neptunium-237, which also decays by way of an energeticalpha particle and has a half-life of more than 2 million years.However, the vast majority of radiation exposure is frombeta-emitting caesium-137 which is declining with a half-life ofabout 30 years.5 August: As a result of amnesties, Professor Bandazhevs-ky's eight-year prison sentence was reduced to seven yearsin J uly 2002 and, in early 2004, his sentence was reduced tosix years. According to the Belarusian government, Articles90 and 91 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarusstipulate that Professor Bandazhevsky's sentence could bereduced when he had served half of the term of the prison

sentence handed down by the court, and conditional early re-lease (parole) reportedly was possible after two thirds of thesentence had been served, on J anuary 6, 2005. But it was notuntil August 5, 2005, under an amnesty declared by President

Lukashenka to celebrate the 60th anniversary of World War II,that Professor Bandazhevsky was released.30 August: The latest radiation measurements in the areaimmediately surrounding the Chernobyl nuclear power plantindicate that the levels of radioactive contamination are fal-ling. Ukraines authorities are therefore opening some of theevacuation zone of 2,800 square kilometers, from where allinhabitants were relocated after the 1986 nuclear accident, for

partial resettlement. However, those who return will lose thewelfare benefits they have been entitled to so far.31 August:The WHO completes its working draft HealthEffects of the Chernobyl Accident and Special Health CarePrograms Report of the UN Chernobyl Forum Expert Group"Health". From this report and others in this series, IAEAcreates Chernobyl's Legacy: Health, Environmental andSocio-economic Impacts and Recommendations to the Gover-nments of Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine [dateof release: 5 September 2005]. Again the work of the WHOis overshadowed by the so-called WHA 12.40, which is theagreement between WHO and IAEA that allows either to keepinformation from the other, which would hurt their respectivemandates. Since it is the IAEA's mandate "to accelerate and

enlarge the contribution of atomic energy to peace, healthand prosperity throughout the world", it is doubtful that IAEAcould conduct unbiased health studies on the effects of theChernobyl nuclear explosion. In fact, IAEA has no mandate toconduct health studies at all.September: Ukrainian authorities retrieve radioactive fuelbelieved to be stolen from Chernobyl. A plastic bag, containing14 pieces of fuel, where fond during a routine search of thereactors perimeter. The material is believed to be stolen in1995 but left in the plant when additional security measures todetect radiation were installed after the theft in 19955 September: According to the IAEAs press release Cherno-byl: The True Scale of the Accident, introducing the controver-sial report Chernobyls Legacy: Health, Environmental and

Socio-Economic Impacts a total of up to four thousand peoplecould eventually die of radiation exposure from the Chernobylaccident. And as of mid-2005, however, fewer than 50 deathshad been directly attributed to radiation from the disaster.See box : IAEA study rubbish

November: Eleven farms, covering 11,300 hectares in Scot-land, are still so contaminated by the Chernobyl accident thattheir sheep are considered unsafe to eat.15 December: In a official statement Ukraine president

Yushchenko says no foreign fuel will be stored at Chernobyl. Aweek earlier, he stated that the government was studying thepossibility of storing foreign nuclear fuel at Chernobyl. After aloud public outcry he apparently discarded the idea.16 December: France: The SCPRI (Central Service forProtection against Radioactive Rays) knew of high levels ofcontamination in Corsica and southeastern France but keptthe information under wraps. The study was commissioned bya magistrate who since 2001 has been examining allegationsthat the atomic cloud from Chernobyl caused a surge in casesof thyroid cancer in parts of France. According to the reportthe SCPRI issued imprecise maps that concealed high levelsof fallout in certain areas.2006

January:The EBRD stated the Shelter Implementation Plan(SIP) had reached a crucial point, with the awarding of thecontract for the NSC (New Safe Confinement) expected within

the next few months. The EBRD has said completion of themain construction projects is scheduled for 2008 or 2009.Stabilization work on the sarcophagus has begun, with twoof eight stabilization activities already complete. The aim is to

Shelter Implementation PlanIn 2005, the SIP (Shelter Implementation Plan) entered

its final stage. All major Chernobyl site infrastructurefacilities and programs (radiation and industrial protection,medical training, emergency response) have either beencompleted or will be at final acceptance over the next fewmonths. These facilities and programs will, according tothe EBRD ensure adequate protection of people duringthe construction activities, which have commenced andwhich will significantly increase during the year. Siteservices in the construction zone have been renewedand a change facility constructed. The physical work onstabilisation of the existing shelter is ongoing under thecontract signed in J uly 2004. When completed in 2006,it will eliminate one of the principal risks - the collapse of

the shelter. A comprehensive monitoring system (nuclear,radiation and seismic) as well as the site access controland physical protection system are under constructionand scheduled for completion during the first half of 2006.

The tenders for the new safe confinement - the largestcomponent of the SIP - are at an advanced stage ofevaluation with contract award scheduled for Autumn2005. The confinement is an enormous arch - with a spanof 260 meters and height of 100 meters - to enclose theexisting sarcophagus and its radioactive contents for aperiod of minimum 100 years. It is being constructed offsite to limit workers exposure to radiation. The arch-shaped confinement will be erected and slid into positionover the old shelter via specially built rails. Once in place,

safer working conditions will enable the deconstruction ofunstable parts of the shelter.


15/20


make the sarcophagus stable for 15 years, allowing time forthe NSC to be constructed. A winner of a tender was said tobe announced on a donor conference on February 14. Howe-ver, there were too many unsolved problems to announce thecompanies name.6 April:The New Scientist magazine is quoting two indepen-dent scientists from the UK, Ian Fairlie and David Sumner,who are accusing the IAEA and the WHO of downplaying theimpact of the Chernobyl accident. They say that the death toll

from cancers caused by Chernobyl will in fact lie somewherebetween 30,000 and 60,000, up to 15 times as many as of-ficially estimated. Fairlie and Sumner accuse the IAEA/WHOreport, released 5 September 2005, of ignoring its own predic-

tion of an extra 5000 cancer deaths in the less contaminatedparts of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, and of failing to takeaccount of many thousands more deaths in other countries,where more than half of Chernobyl's fallout ended up. ZhanatCarr, a radiation scientist with the WHO admitted that thedeaths were omitted because the report was a political com-munication tool. Fairlie and Sumner's accusations are backedby other experts.

6 April: Also released on this day is the report Health Effectsof Chernobyl 20 Years After the Reactor Disaster by theIPPNW in Germany and the German Society for RadiationProtection (GfS). They also belies the claim by the IAEA thatless than 50 people died as a result of the accident at Cher-nobyl. The facts presented by the composers of the reportshow that the IAEAfigures contain serious inconsistencies.For instance, the IAEA claim that future fatalities due to cancerand leukemia in the most heavily exposed groups are expec-ted to number 4000 at the most. However, the study by theWHO, that this claim is based on, forecasts 8930 fatalities.And when one then reviews the reference given in WHOreport, one arrives at 10,000 to 25,000 additional deaths dueto cancer and leukemia, says Dr. Pflugbeil from the GfS.

The IPPNW report documents the catastrophic dimensions ofthe reactor accident, using scientific studies, expert estimatesand official data. Some of them are mentioned here:- 50,000 to 100,000 liquidators (clean-up workers) died in theyears up to 2006. Between 540,000 and 900,000 liquidatorshave become invalids;- Congenital defects found in the children of liquidators andpeople from the contaminated areas could affect future gene-rations to an extent that cannot yet be estimated;- Infant mortality has risen significantly in several Europeancountries, including Germany, since Chernobyl. The studiesat hand estimated the number of fatalities amongst infants inEurope to be about 5000;- In Bavaria alone, between 1000 and 3000 additional birth

defects have been found since Chernobyl. It is feared that inEurope more than 10,000 severe abnormalities could havebeen radiation induced;- In Germany, Greece, Scotland and Rumania, there has beena significant increase in cases of leukemia;18 April: A new Greenpeace report has revealed that the fullconsequences of the Chernobyl disaster could top a quarterof a million cancer cases and nearly 100,000 fatal cancers.

The challenges the UN IAEA Chernobyl Forum report, whichpredicted 4,000 additional deaths attributable to the accidentas a gross simplification of the real breadth of human suffe-ring. The new data, based on Belarus national cancer statis-tics, predicts approximately 270,000 cancers and 93,000 fatalcancer cases caused by Chernobyl. The report also concludesthat on the basis of demographic data, during the last 15years, 60,000 people have additionally died in Russia becauseof the Chernobyl accident, and estimates of the total death tollfor the Ukraine and Belarus could reach another 140,000. Thereport also looks into the ongoing health impacts of Chernobyland concludes that radiation from the disaster has had a deva-stating effect on survivors; damaging immune and endocrinesystems, leading to accelerated ageing, cardiovascular andblood illnesses, psychological illnesses, chromosomal aber-rations and an increase in fetal deformations.28 October:There are 36 areas of upland Norway whereChernobyl contamination still requires controls on sheep.According to the Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority

(NRPA), levels of caesium-137 reached 7 kBq/kg in sheep thisyear, more than twice the maximum levels in previous years.The discovery of such high levels of radioactivity so long afterthe Chernobyl accident came as a surprise, a NRPA spokes-

IAEA study rubbish

Chernobyl relief organizations and many radiation sci-entists dispute and criticize the data and figures in thereport, calling them poor, quite inappropriate or simplyrubbish. The report is accused of playing down the truedimension of the catastrophe. Some statements of thestudy are challenged as demonstrably false. Experts arealso concerned that the UNs IAEA, may have had toogreat an influence on the study.Dr. Rosalie Bertell, a well known expert, has made manycomments on the IAEAs press release. One of thesecomments is on the following quote: Approximately 1000on-site reactor staff and emergency workers were heavilyexposed to high-level radiation on the first day of the ac-cident; among the more than 200,000 emergency and re-covery operation workers exposed during the period from1986-1987, a

CHERNOBYL FACTS

Documents

Transcript of CHERNOBYL FACTS